


The Brightest Black

by Lovenyx125



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Age Difference, Allegra Griffith aka MC, Allegra is a BAMF, Animagus, Curse Breaking, Cursed Vaults are just referenced, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Hermione Granger has a crush, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Jealous Hermione Granger, Magical Artifacts, More of a OOTP do-over with someone to save Sirius' soul, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Post-Sirius Black in Azkaban, Seductive Sirius Black, Sexy Sirius Black, Sirius Black Deserves Better, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius Black is a Little Shit, Sirius Black is saved, Sirius is smitten, Sirius isn't as depressed as he should be, Sirius just wants to be loved, Sirius won't die idc if its a spoiler but not letting that happen on my watch, Umbridge is gonna get shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:29:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23839132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovenyx125/pseuds/Lovenyx125
Summary: He wondered what would be softer, her curls as he gripped them in his fist or the creamy curve of her neck that she would bare when he tugged. Sweet Circe, she was exquisite, and then she turned her tantalizing hazel eyes on him, shattering his world into the cosmos.When famous curse-breaker, Allegra Griffith, joins the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius Black’s fate is wrenched off its axis. He knows he should stay away and not taint her with his sins, but Allegra would watch the world burn if it meant she got to keep him.
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 125





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You do NOT need to have played Hogwarts Mystery to read this fic. I merely took the experiences of the player character and made her my own. Sirius is not as sullen and depressed as he is in canon, and he's taking strides to become better. He deserved a happier life, which is what this fic serves to give him. It's a pretty self-indulgent fic and full of passion. Enjoy!

It began with a curse, as all things generally do in her life. Most people would be terrified, but for someone who has lived and breathed curse-breaking since she was eleven years old, it was a regular Tuesday with a dollop of exhilarating.

She was working in Peru for a month now, her team excavating an ancient pyramid in search for a rumoured relic, when the letter arrived. She’d just set the kettle to boil and slipped on her Hungarian Horntail pyjamas when there was a flash of fire in the middle of her kitchen. Rather than sending some poor owl to trek across the globe, her former Headmaster sent his loyal phoenix to scare her half to death in the middle of the night.

“Fawkes,” she murmured after swallowing the spell that was on the tip of her tongue and putting her wand away.

A wisp of dread began to curl in her stomach as she opened the letter and began to read. Fawkes watched her expectantly as she raised her hand to summon a quill. Turning the piece of parchment over, she scribbled her response and held it out. Fawkes let out a trill before grabbing the parchment and disappearing in another flash of fire.

She glanced down at her outfit nervously, wondering if she had time to change. Before she could even take a step towards her bedroom, Albus Dumbledore appeared in the middle of the room.

“Allegra, my dear,” he greeted her with a warm smile. “It’s been entirely too long.”

“I agree, Professor Dumbledore,” she nodded, wincing when she saw his eyes linger on her pyjamas. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“That would be lovely. International travel does tire out an old man like me.”

She gestured for him to take a seat by the fireplace and busied herself with preparing two mugs. She called out over her shoulder, “I hope you don’t mind, it’s a local Peruvian blend that I’ve become rather fond of during my stay here.”

“If it’s anything like it smells, I’m sure it’s quite delicious.”

She handed him one of the mugs and settled into the armchair across from him. Despite the change in environment and the time that had passed since, it felt like she was back in his office, preparing to be admonished for breaking the rules yet again.

She clutched the mug tightly in her hands, waiting for him to break the brief silence first. It wasn’t until he’d taken a sip that he finally spoke, “Ah, simply delicious and exotic.”

“I’m sure you’re not here in the Peruvian jungle at half-past midnight to sample my tea collection,” she remarked with a nervous chuckle.

He appraised her over the rim of his mug, his eyes twinkling as ever. “I apologize for the late intrusion. I’d have waited for a better suited moment, but such unfortunate matters rarely have those.”

“I’m assuming the unfortunate matter you speak of is the return of Voldemort.”

“So you’ve heard?” He raised an eyebrow at that.

She nodded and explained carefully, “Jacob sent me clippings of the Prophet and a message telling me that he’d had a run-in with Avery. He told me he’d send another message when it was safe, but….”

“But he hasn’t sent anything yet,” he finished for her when she trailed off.

“Yeah.” She swallowed hard. “I figured he has a tail, if he…if he hasn’t been caught.”

“Your brother has always been quite excellent at evading those he doesn’t wish to be found by. He’s a formidable wizard, Allegra, and quite paranoid too. I’m sure he will reach out to you once he deems it more than safe.”

She nodded, knowing better than most how difficult it was to find and keep track of her brother. “I just wish there was something I could do to help him, instead of waiting around helplessly.”

“You don’t have to be helpless.”

There was a glint in her former Headmaster’s eyes as he leaned forward and asked, “What do you know about the Order of the Phoenix?”

* * *

She followed Dumbledore down the stairs and into a large basement with rough stone walls. There was a long wooden table underneath a dusty chandelier, but most of the light seemed to come from a large ornate fireplace at the far end of the room. Chairs had been crammed all around the table and nearly all of them were occupied. The Headmaster took his place at the head of the table and gestured for Allegra to take a seat. Ignoring the whispers that had ignited at the sight of her, she slipped into the nearest empty seat. Which just so happened to be beside her old Potions Master. Lovely.

From where she was sitting, she could make out most of the other people in the room. She recognized a handful of them, some of them longtime friends and some acquaintances. Her best friends Tonks and Bill were next to each other, across from them were the Weasley parents and Remus Lupin. She nearly didn’t recognize the werewolf as it had been many years and he looked quite tired and ill. It had been a full moon two days ago, right? She couldn’t see who was sitting beside him was as his face was hidden in the shadows, but the arm resting on the table was that of a man. Next over was her old Transfiguration professor and across from her was Mundungus Fletcher, someone Allegra had the displeasure of doing business with several times.

“Thank you for showing up for this impromptu meeting and I apologize for our tardiness. There was a funny little mix-up at the portkey office involving an adorable fluffy duck rather than the wooden one it ought to have been,” Dumbledore chuckled lightly.

Many people looked exasperated, but only a handful let out uneasy chuckles.

“Now onto the first order of business,” he paused and looked around with twinkling eyes, but the most his pun got was a roll of eyes. Allegra stifled her own smile and straightened up when he met her eyes. “I’d like to introduce our newest member. Many of you may remember her from her time at Hogwarts, during which she created quite the reputation for herself, and others may have heard of her escapades around the globe afterwards. Allegra Griffith, one of the most renowned curse breakers of our time.”

All eyes turned to her and swallowing her nervousness, she nodded in greeting. A lot of the people here didn’t trust her, that much was evident from the accusations in their gazes, but the rest greeted her with warm smiles.

“Are you sure we can trust her, Dumbledore? Given her association with Rakepick…,” the stubby man who’d spoken up trailed off nervously.

She stiffened at the mention of her old mentor and betrayer, but it was not unexpected. Her exploits with Patricia Rakepick and the rest of ‘R’ was well known to the Wizarding World and not everyone believed that Allegra hadn’t been in cahoots with the nefarious organization.

“Forget Rakepick, her brother was expelled from Hogwarts and ran off to join You-Know-Who,” Amos Diggory chimed in angrily.

“Is that so, Mr. Diggory? Did my brother tell you that himself or did you learn that from Rita Skeeter’s stories?” Allegra cut in, her voice tight.

The man beside Remus barked out a laugh and leaned forward to look at her. Her breath caught when she realized she was locking gazes with the infamous Sirius Black. He looked strikingly different from the photos she’d seen of him in the papers, less like a lunatic and a lot more handsome. Before she got take a closer look, she was drawn away by Diggory’s ranting.

“Oh ho, I remember all of my Cedric’s letters home about you. The kind of trouble you brought to Hogwarts and dragged your friends, or rather followers, into.”

“She didn’t drag us into anything,” Tonks interrupted angrily. “Allegra has always been the one friend you can trust above everything and we were glad to have her back. She always had ours.”

“I trust Allegra with my life,” Bill Weasley added firmly, his arms crossed over his chest. “I always have and I’ve never regretted it. She’s no more Voldemort’s ally than I am.”

Allegra shot him and Tonks a grateful glance.

“Everyone also believed Rakepick was an upstanding witch and trusted her. Much like you lot are with Griffith,” Amos argued and turned his scowl back onto Allegra. “I’m just grateful Cedric was too young and too smart to fall under you spell or you’d have sacrificed his life as well!”

Allegra shot up to her feet at the mention of the friend who she’d lost all those years ago.

“Enough, Amos!”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Allegra who’d spoken, but Professor McGonagall. The normally composed woman looked affronted as she leaned forward to speak furiously, “Do not belittle that poor girl’s sacrifice. You of all people should understand.”

The transfiguration professor didn’t need to say it, but everyone’s mind went to the sweet Hufflepuff who’d been one of the first tragedies in this looming war. His loss was still fresh, it hadn’t even been two months.

“And you, sit down,” McGonagall turned her severe gaze to Allegra, who grumbled under her breath but did as she said.

“Where is your brother?” Tonks asked tentatively, giving her old friend a reassuring smile.

“He’s working as a freelance curse breaker. Don’t ask me where, because he won’t say.”

“Considering how difficult it was to track Ms. Griffith down, I imagine dear Jacob is nearly impossible to find,” Dumbledore said, although much of the twinkle in his eyes was gone. “We’ll need to get into touch with him, Allegra, I hope you know.”

She nodded, swallowing hard before admitting, “Last I spoke with him, he said he was being pursued by Death Eaters.”

Dumbledore seemed unsurprised as he nodded, while a few people like Amos looked vindicated.

“I suspected as much. He would be a tremendous asset to their side, as would you.”

“Good thing I’m so hard to track down then,” she replied cheerfully.

Tonks snorted and even Remus let out a smile at that.

“I trained the girl myself, back when she was a student. I’ll admit we’re damn fortunate she doesn’t want that bloody tattoo on her arm,” Moody grumbled, speaking for the first time even though his eyes - or rather eye - had been trained on her since she walked into the room. “What I’d like to know, Dumbledore, is what you think she can do to help? If she were just here to act as a guard, we wouldn’t be having a meeting just about her.”

Ah. Good old Moody. Always straight to the point. Allegra had always appreciated his bluntness and appreciated it even more now since she was wondering the same question.

“I’m glad you asked, Alastor,” Dumbledore beamed. “I managed to get ahold of Allegra a few weeks ago and since then we’ve been setting things in motion. She reached out to some of her old contacts in the ministry about a job and they had a job offer written out within the hour.”

“Ah, so you are the young woman nearly every department head in the ministry is fighting over,” said a bald dark-skinned wizard with a deep slow voice. The single gold hoop in his ear glinted in the low light as turned to her with an appraising smile. “Kingsley Shacklebolt, auror.”

“I wouldn’t say fighting,” she replied smoothly and gave him a nod in greeting.

“I would,” Moody said gruffly. “Bones is prepared to fast track your auror training and offer you a significant starting bonus just to ensure you won’t take up any other job offers. Fudge is pushing hard to keep you in the clutches of the DMLE. ”

“It’s all conditional,” she waved off. “There will be an examination and unless I pass with flying colours, I’ll simply be a curse-breaking liaison with the aurors.”

“Blimey!” Tonk exclaimed, looking surprised and pleased. “All that experience fighting dark wizards did come in handy after all, but special attention from Fudge is never a good thing.”

“In this case, special attention from Fudge is perfect,” Dumbledore interjected, looking especially pleased. “We already know he is wanting to place one of his own people in Hogwarts, something we’ve been having difficulty circumventing. We might be able to convince him that Allegra is the right person for that job.”

“How’re we going to do that? She’s been working abroad for the past few years and has never worked for the ministry. Why would he trust her around her old headmaster?” Remus asked and many other people nodded in agreement.

“It won’t be easy, but a few well-timed remarks regarding her distrust of me and the way I run the school will be a good place to start. After all, I did expel her brother from Hogwarts,” Dumbledore explained brightly.

“Is it really worth risking the safety of this entire organization and its members on the off-chance that she’ll be able to squirm her way into Fudge’s good graces?” the stubby man from before muttered loudly.

“Even if that doesn’t work, Allegra has some dead useful contacts outside of the ministry,” Tonks argued.

“‘Er contacts from Knockturn Alley ain’t worth much nowadays,” Mundungus sneered. “She ‘ain’t been there since she left ‘ogwarts.”

“Keeping track of me, are you, Fletcher?” Allegra snapped coldly when whispers erupted once again.

“What on Earth were you doing hanging around that shoddy place, dear?” Molly asked with concern.

“And as a student no less?” McGonagall added, turning her severe gaze onto her former student.

“Finding the cursed vaults wasn’t as simple as doing some research in the library and finding clues every other week,” she gritted out, hating that many of the eyes on her had turned distrustful. “Certain items had to be acquired and traded, sometimes for information.”

“Is that whatchu you call tying me up and torturing me along with bloody Rakepick?” Mundungus cried out angrily.

“Interrogation, Fletcher. Interrogation. If that’s what you think torture is, I’d like to see how you fare when Death Eaters come knocking to actually torture you,” she sneered, looking away from the disapproving looks McGonagall and Molly were giving her.

She was surprised to find that Black wasn’t looking at her with distrust like many of the others. He looked curious and his lips twitched with what she was sure was amusement. More than anything, he looked _intrigued_ , she dared say.

“How about you tell us about some of those contacts Tonks mentioned?” Arthur interrupted, offering her a placating smile.

“Right. Of course.” She straightened her back at Dumbledore’s nod of confidence. “I’m sure you are all aware that Greyback’s influence extends beyond our borders. After getting Professor Dumbledore’s message, I reached out to one of my friends who works in France as a Healer. She works with werewolves specifically and well, she is one herself. Her patients trust her quite a bit because of that and she’s agreed to get back to me once she hears any word about Greyback’s pack or the other rogue wolves aligning with Voldemort.”

“It’ll be useful to have another set of eyes with the werewolves,” Kingsley agreed and other people also nodded in agreement.

“As for Knockturn Alley, I do have another friend who is well-known businessman around there and trusted by many of those who frequent it. Those are the two I’ve spoken with so far, but I plan on reaching out to my friends in the French ministry and the MACUSA.”

That seemed to please the group and Dumbledore steered the conversation away from the topic of Allegra. She breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when everyone’s attention turned elsewhere. Everyone except Black.

He was appraising her unabashedly, the weight of his steel silver gaze making it evident. The shadows of the fire flickered across his aristocratic features, highlighting the arch of his cheekbones. His sharp jaw was framed by silky dark tresses that complimented the paleness of his skin. Azkaban may have stolen much of his youth, but the same could not be said of his beauty. His lips curved into a smirk - acknowledgment of her blatant staring, she realized. Rather than get flushed and look away, she arched a brow at him with a soft smirk of her own.

* * *

Harry had only been in 12 Grimmauld Place for one night and already he felt more at home than he ever did at the Dursleys. The creepy and morbid interior design aside, he was just glad to be reunited with his godfather and to finally have some notion of what was going on with the fight against Voldemort.

“There’s another meeting starting about now,” Ginny said, slipping into the room.

“How do you reckon?” Ron frowned.

CRACK. CRACK.

“Dumbledore just walked in with some pretty lady and they both went downstairs,” Ginny explained as she flopped down onto Harry’s bed where Hermione was reading. Harry and Ron were sitting on Ron’s bed with a chessboard between them.

“Dumbledore’s here?” Harry exclaimed, looking up in surprise.

“What’s this about a pretty lady?” George asked, startling one of Ron’s knights as he and Fred apparated into the room.

“She must be new to the Order. I’ve never seen her here before.” With her brow furrowed and lips pursed, Ginny added, “Actually, she looks kind of familiar. I just don’t know from where.”

“Hopefully she stays for dinner and lets something slip about the meeting,” Fred mused.

“Speaking of dinner, you’re looking awfully dressed up, Hermione,” Ginny mused, nudging her friend’s foot and laughing at the blush that spread across her cheeks.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Gin,” Hermione muttered, raising her book even higher to hide her face.

“Really? Then how come you asked to borrow my makeup.”

Ron and Harry looked utterly confused, while the twins were watching the bushy-haired Griffithdor with bemusement.

“You know, Ginny, now that you mention it our Hermione does spend an awful lot of time talking to a certain dark-haired convict,” Fred remarked, a grin spreading across his face.

The smile on George’s face was just as sneaky as his twin’s as he added, “You’re quite right, Freddie. Funny how she always ends up sitting near dear old Sirius for every meal.”

“Wait? Sirius? Hermione has a crush on Sirius?” Harry’s head swivelled between the four of them before finally settling on Hermione. “Are they right, Hermione?”

“You three are just awful,” Hermione groaned, slumping down against the headboard and covering her face with the open book. “It’s not a crush. It’s j-just-just something stupid.”

“But he’s Harry’s godfather!” Ron exclaimed, looking pale.

“Yeah, but he’s damn fit,” George retorted. “Especially now that he’s been eating solid meals.”

“Still a bit on the pale side, but nothing a bit of sun won’t fix,” Fred added. “He’s not quite the beauty he was before Azkaban, but he’s still bloody attractive.”

“He was like a skeleton at the end of the school year, but now he’s gotten lean. He’s got proper muscles,” Ginny said excitedly. “No idea how since he can’t leave this place. I saw him shirtless the other morning and let me tell you, that man is fit. Right, Hermione?”

She got a pillow in the face as a response.

“He’s been practicing duelling a lot, that’s why his arms are so toned now,” Harry said quietly, his expression more amused than anything. At everyone’s surprised looks, he explained, “What? I notice things!”

Ginny snorted incredulously.

“Okay fine, I notice things sometimes,” Harry admitted with a roll of his eyes. “I asked him to pass the jam this morning and noticed his firm arms. When I quietly mentioned it to Remus, he told me Sirius has been working hard to clean himself up and make himself useful. He can’t go out to do things for the order, but at least he can be prepared for when the fight begins.”

His friends just stared at him before bursting into laughter.

“Firm arms, really, Harry?” Ginny giggled.

“Watch out, Hermione, you might have competition for your crush,” Fred sniggered.

“It’s not a crush!” Hermione growled, although even she looked amused.

“You get all red in the face when he asks you to pass the butter. You never come down to breakfast in your pyjamas anymore. Hermione, you even got flustered when he asked you to explain S.P.E.W. If that’s not a crush, then I’m a bloody kelpie,” Ginny remarked teasingly.

“I don’t know, Hermione, it sounds an awful lot like a crush,” George sang lightly.

“You should’ve said something, Hermione. We could’ve been helping you out all this time instead of letting you resort to asking him to pass the butter,” Fred said, fluttering his eyelashes dramatically.

“Yeah, ‘Mione, Harry can even put in a good word for you,” Ron said, finally joining in on the teasing.

“Don’t you dare,” she hissed. “The last thing I need is Sirius finding out about my wildly inappropriate crush on him.”

“Aha! So you admit you have a crush on him!” Ginny cried out with a very satisfied smile.

“Wildly inappropriate?” Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yes! He’s your-your-you know-” she gestured frantically, lost for words for a moment. “He’s your godfather, Harry. If that’s not inappropriate, then I don’t know what is.”

“So it’s not the whole wanted for mass murder part you’re worried about?” he confirmed.

“Of course not!’ she said quickly. “He’s innocent and I’m sure Dumbledore will fix that up once Fudge comes to his senses or gets replaced.”

“Hope that happens soon. At this rate Sirius will be as buff as Viktor Krum by Christmas,” Fred said.

“Our Hermione will pass out when he passes her the butter with those buff arms of his,” said George and promptly got hit in the face with a pillow.

“Who would’ve thought Hermione would be into older men?” Ginny grinned.

The girl in question blushed deeply at this and buried her face in her hands.

“Twenty years,” Ron coughed out.

Hermione let out a mortified squeak.

“Hermione, I think it’s kind of sweet that you like him,” Harry said softly, but she just shook her head with removing her hands. “Age is just a number and all that, right?”

“Besides, twenty years is nothing when you consider how long magical folk live,” Ginny said reassuringly.

“We think it’s brilliant,” Fred declared.

“Oi, Harry, when they get married are you going to be calling her godmother or auntie Hermione?” George snickered.

This time it was both Harry and Hermione throwing pillows at them.

“Leave her alone, I think its romantic,” Ginny said dismissively. “Besides, that’s not how godparents work.”

They turned with a start when the door opened and Mrs. Weasley poked her head in to tell them to come down for dinner. Harry rushed after her, hoping to catch Dumbledore before he left. The only thing he managed to catch was the sight of the Headmaster’s flashy purple robes as he slipped out the front door.

“Come on, before you wake that hag,” Ginny whispered, gesturing to the portrait of Sirius’ mother and nudging him from behind.

Walking into the basement, he immediately spotted the pretty witch Ginny had been talking about. The lady in question was being smothered in a hug by Tonks, who was squealing excitedly.

“I cannot believe you didn’t tell me you’d be coming back,” Tonks berated her albeit fondly.

“Allegra!”

“Griffith!”

Harry stumbled on the last step as the twins barrelled past him and sandwiched the woman into a tight hug. Even from here he could see the breath had been knocked out of her, but she beamed happily as she wrapped her arms around the two redheads.

“You’re back?” Fred cried out.

“When did this happen?” George asked eagerly.

“How did this happen?”

“You’re a part of the Order?”

“Bloody hell!”

“Language!” Molly tutted, but her heart wasn’t in it as she smiled fondly at the mystery woman.

“We missed you, Legs,” George practically announced and Fred nodded fervently.

“Oi! Don’t call me that,” she cried exasperatedly.

“Move it, you two. Leave some of her for the rest of us,” Bill said with a roll of his eyes and nudged them aside to pull her into his arms. “I missed you like crazy. But seriously, you couldn’t have sent one of us a note? Or at least mentioned it in your last letter.”

“I wanted to surprise you!” she said brightly.

“You certainly achieved that,” he said with a chuckle and hugged her again.

Harry exchanged confused glances with Hermione. Ron seemed to have gone red in the face and wasn’t moving as he stared at the newcomer with wide eyes. Ginny was watching the scene before her with a speculative expression.

When Bill finally pulled away, Harry was surprised to see Remus step forward with his arm outstretched. The dark-haired woman eyed his hand for a heartbeat before sweeping him into a hug. The look of surprise on Remus’ face made Harry’s heart aching, knowing he was unused to being hugged due to fear of his condition.

Seeing him struggle for words, the woman simply shook her head and said, “If I wasn’t scared of you on a full moon, what makes you think I’d be afraid now.”

Harry’s respect for this woman shot up on the spot and he finally moved towards where she was standing. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one having the same thoughts. Sirius, who’d been hanging back and watching the scene unfold, swept forward more gracefully than Harry had ever seen him. Then in the blink of an eye, Sirius bowed and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. Harry could practically hear everyone’s jaws dropping around him and Remus moved closer to Harry to whisper in his ear, “I haven’t seen him do that since before he was arrested.”

“Sirius Black, a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said silkily.

Harry didn’t know what he was expecting, perhaps for the woman to be uncomfortable with a “mass murderer” with a bounty on his head touching her. But whatever it was, he was surprised once again when she blushed and bowed her head slightly.

“Allegra Griffith. The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Black,” she said and bit down on her lip to contain her smile.

“Call me Sirius. Any friend of Moony’s is solid in my books,” he said wolfishly.

She threw her head back and laughed, the sound akin to merriment and music.

“Moony, huh? That’s fitting.” She grinned.

Harry felt Ginny come to stand beside him and ask loudly, “Wait, you’re Allegra? Bill and Charlie’s friend from school?”

“Ginny? Oh wow, you were so tiny when I last saw you,” she said, pulling her hand away from Sirius to turn to the youngest Weasley.

“Sorry, I don’t actually remember meeting you,” Ginny admitted. “Was this when we all came down for Bill’s graduation party?”

“She’s seen plenty of photos of our entire family. But I think you and Ron were in Zonkos with Aunt Muriel and then —” Bill said thoughtfully.

“— And then Moody appeared out of nowhere and apparated me out of there,” Allegra finished with a roll of her eyes. Her eyes moved past the female Weasley and she smiled, “Ron, now you I’ve definitely met. On the platform after the holidays, yeah?”

Despite the fact that his cheeks were just as red as his hair, Ron stumbled forward with his hand outstretched. Struggling to meet her eyes as she shook his hand, he muttered, “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“Of course I do,” she replied kindly, “You were the cutest little thing and now look at you, towering over me.”

Harry didn’t think it was possible for Ron to blush any hard, but he did, much to Harry’s confusion. He was even more baffled when Allegra turned her attention to him, but didn’t glance at his scar with wonderment. Instead, she kept her hazel-green eyes trained on his as she held out her hand.

“We haven’t met before. I’m Allegra Griffith.”

Her hand was just as warm as her smile and he felt disarmed for a moment as he inclined his head awkwardly, “Nice to meet you. I’m Harry.”

Hermione was stiff beside him as she held out her hand for her own greeting. He could see Allegra’s eyes flicker over his best friend’s posture, but her smile wasn’t any less bright.

“Alright, you lot. I’ll need help if you plan on eating before midnight,” Molly called from the kitchen. “Not you, Allegra dear, you’ve had a long and tiring journey.”

“Did you come straight from Peru?” Bill asked, pulling out a chair for the girl in question as Tonks dragged her over. They both took a seat on either side of her while the twins rushed to grab the seats across from her.

Ginny muttered something under her breath and dragged both her brother and Harry towards the kitchen. Hermione followed reluctantly, glancing over her shoulder as she did.

“What were you doing in Peru?” George wondered.

“I was hired to find a relic in one of the pyramids, spent the last few weeks wrapping it up so I could come back. I portkeyed to Brazil, then Liberia, Egypt, Spain, and then finally London,” she explained.

“What kind of relic?” Fred asked eagerly. “Something really dangerous?”

“A gold bracelet that lures people into putting it on and turns their arm into mercury. Which, of course, kills them because all of that mercury poisons their blood.”

“Wicked!” George and Fred said together.

“You’re a curse-breaker? Like Bill?” Harry found himself asking as he carried a stack of plates to the table.

“Sure am,” she said. “Bill taught me a lot of it too.”

“Oh come off it,” Bill scoffed. “I just taught you a couple of defensive spells, but you were curse-breaking since you were eleven.”

“Eleven?” Hermione repeated, fumbling with the pile of cutlery in shock. “How’s that?”

“Do we really need to discuss such grim matters when we’ve finally gotten Allegra back?” Molly tutted as she directed Arthur to levitate a large pot of lamb broth to the table.

Tonks sniggered, “Like a lost cat coming home.”

“Speaking of grim matters,” Allegra said quickly, turning to Bill with rapt excitement and not realizing everyone in the room looked startled, “I wanted you to take a look at this cursed amulet I came across in Germany. It was being passed around for decades and unknowingly turning the wearer into a large black dog. It looked exactly like the Grimm from our folktales, but I can’t pinpoint the origins. It seems Scandinavian more than anything.”

Ignoring how everyone’s eyes kept darting to Sirius, Bill chuckled and tugged on one of her curls. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to pet the Grimm.”

“Are you joking? Of course I tried! It was as big as me, probably because of how thick the fur was. But then the flashing red eyes and the repeated attempts at taking a chunk out of my throat put a stop to that.”

“Why on Earth would you try to pet a dog as big as you with red eyes?” Remus asked, looking at her smile incredulously.

“She love animals,” Fred explained.

“Like _loves_ them,” George added.

“I can’t imagine an animal Allegra didn’t try to tame.” Tonks said.

“I don’t want to tame them, just befriend them,” she pouted.

“We get it, she’s perfect,” Hermione muttered under her breath, but only Harry, Ginny, and Remus heard her.

“I’m starting to think you love danger,” Remus remarked.

Allegra leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. “Oh I don’t just love danger, I thrive off it.”

Sirius seemed to love that especially. He laughed roughly and turned to Remus, “I want one.”

Much to everyone’s amusement, Remus rolled his eyes and said dryly, “Down boy.”

“Let’s dig in!” Molly announced as she brought the final dish over.

“You must have a pet then, right?” Ginny asked, taking a seat beside Tonks. “Crookshanks would love to make a new friend.”

“That’s Hermione’s cat,” Ron clarified, his ears red as he did so.

“Unfortunately not,” Allegra said with a frown. “You probably know from your brother how unstable our career is. It would be stressful for an animal to travel by magical means so often.”

“You probably can now that you’ll be settled here for the next little while,” Arthur pointed out.

“You’re moving back here?” George confirmed and let out a shout of excitement when she nodded.

“What animal would you want to get?” Sirius asked curiously.

She didn’t even have to think about it. “Definitely a dog. A big fluffy dog.”

The grin that spread across his face was positively smug, something that didn’t escape the notice of others.

* * *

From the glances Remus was sending him, Sirius knew his best friend thought he was behaving like a man possessed and it kind of did feel like that. From the moment Allegra Griffith had walked into his house, Sirius had lost control of his senses. A tingle had gone down his spine as she crossed the wards, notifying him that someone of immense power had entered his ancestral home. Two someones actually, one of which he recognized to be Dumbledore, but the magic of the other person was unfamiliar. The headmaster hadn’t told any of them whom he was bringing to this impromptu meeting, but from the whispers that followed her entrance, most of them recognized who she was by face alone.

Being in Azkaban for twelve years didn’t afford him the same luxury, leaving him without a name to place to those delicate features. Her rosy lips begged to be bitten, to be left ravished for the rest of the world to see. Her tresses fell in lush chocolate curls down to the cinch right before her wide hips. He wondered what would be softer, her curls as he gripped them in his fist or the creamy curve of her neck that she would bare when he tugged. Sweet Circe, she was exquisite, and then she turned her tantalizing hazel eyes on him, shattering his world into the cosmos.

He had no doubt she had recognized him, her eyes widening in surprise was proof of that. She didn’t shy away after that, he noted her curious gaze with delight.

Her beauty wasn’t just skin deep. She spoke of the werewolf Healer with respect and made a point to greet Remus as she would any other friend, embracing both man and beast. It was at that exact moment Sirius knew he was screwed. He reached into parts of him long-buried, grasping at the few behaviours befitting a proper pureblood he hadn’t scorned. Everyone in the room was watching him with undisguised shock as he placed a kiss of reverence on the back of her hand. He wondered, for the briefest moment, if she would scoff or look at him weirdly. He was sure the others in the room must’ve thought him batty for suddenly following pureblood protocol, but only Remus knew this was how Sirius used to charm women in his youth. He’d been in her presence for all but an hour and he felt more like himself than he had in fourteen years.


	2. Who the hell is Allegra Griffith?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Before the sun had even risen, Harry tip-toed out of Hermione and Ginny’s room and closed the door as quietly as he could. He turned around and jumped, his hand instinctively flying to his mouth to cover the sound of his surprise._  
>  “Sirius! What the hell?” he whisper-yelled.  
> “Shouldn’t I be asking you that, pup?” Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows. 
> 
> In which Sirius learns a bit about who Allegra Griffith is and Harry finally finds the honesty that is elusive in the adults in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for such a positive response to the first chapter. I'm really glad you enjoyed it and are intrigued for more. I have a lot of the next stuff planned out so I'm hoping you'll like the direction this takes.

“You seem close to Tonks and Bill.”

Allegra turned to smile at the curious raven-haired teen. Harry was a lot quieter than she expected him to be, but he seemed like a sweet boy. Nothing like the delusional liar The Prophet had been trying to paint him as. Then again, the same paper once considered her mad and a supporter of Voldemort so not much could be said of their credibility.

“I am. We were good friends at Hogwarts and always up to no good. I was in the same year as Tonks and Charlie,” she said with a fond smile. “I hear you’re always getting into trouble yourself.”

He blushed, much to her amusement, but agreed, “It’s not as if I do it on purpose, but whenever anything happens, its always the three of us involved Ron, Hermione, and me - that is.”

She laughed and said, “Good friends who always have your back are the mark of a fulfilling life, Harry.”

He chuckled hollowly and flicked his eyes over at where Sirius and Remus were having a quiet discussion.

“It’s getting awfully late. Time for bed now. We have a big day ahead of us if we’re going to be cleaning this house from top to bottom. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, don’t look at me like that. Fred, George, that includes both of you.” Molly began ushering the younger crowd off to bed.

“Come on, mum,” Fred scowled.

“We haven’t seen Allegra in years,” George complained.

“And you’ll see her soon enough. She isn’t going to disappear,” Molly said firmly.

“You better come back tomorrow. We’ve got loads to show you,” George conceded.

“Things we need to talk about,” Fred sighed, giving her a pointed look.

“It was nice meeting you, Allegra,” Harry said softly and the others echoed the sentiment.

The twins reluctantly followed their siblings and friends out of the kitchen after giving Allegra a tight hug.

“Now how about one last cup of tea for the rest of us?” Molly suggested, already out of her seat and heading towards the kitchen.

“To digest that lovely meal? Certainly!” Tonks said, patting her full stomach.

“I don’t know, Molly. As you said, it’s getting late and I’ve got to report to the ministry at eight,” Allegra said before stifling a yawn near the end.

“Oh nonsense, you look dead on your feet. One cup won’t hurt,” Molly brushed her off.

“Where are you staying? Griffith Manor?” Bill asked.

“Ah, no,” she shook her head, frowning down at the table. “I’m not welcome there at the moment.”

“Your mum isn’t still upset, is she? It’s been nearly five years,” Tonks groaned.

“Five years of traipsing around the world to play with dark artifacts,” Allegra reminded her bitterly. “She’ll be infuriatingly smug when she finds out I’m back home to take a job with the Ministry.”

“Where will you go?” Remus asked. 

“I figured I’d grab a room at the Leaky for tonight and then sort out a more permanent place to stay tomorrow,” she shrugged.

“At this hour?” Molly frowned as she brought over the tray of tea.

“You can stay over at my place. I’ve got my own flat in Diagon Alley,” Bill offered.

“William!” Molly looked utterly scandalized, nearly dropping the cup she’d been handing to Sirius.

“It’s nothing like that,” Bill said quickly, his ears burning. “If she stays at the Leaky then she’s pretty much putting out an advertisement to Voldemort’s people.”

“You-Know-Who aside, the Prophet will have a field day with your return. Your face is well-recognizable even all these years later,” Tonks pointed out.

“Thank you, but I can defend myself for one night. My wards are pretty damn good, if I must say so,” Allegra said bemusedly.

“That may be, but a lot of those unsavoury types tend to hang out there at this hour,” Molly said worriedly.

“She’s not wrong there,” Sirius interjected. Allegra hadn’t even realized he was paying attention to their conversation. “You can always stay here. There’s plenty of room.”

“Thank you, but I couldn’t impose,” she replied softly.

“You should stay with me. We’re even headed to the same place in the morning,” Tonks said.

“I don’t want you becoming a target, Tonks. The Death Eaters know the easiest way to my brother is through me so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re watching me.”

“Then it isn’t hard for them to figure out who your close friends from Hogwarts were and get to you that way,” she pointed out. “Besides, an Auror and a curse-breaker? Our protection spells and wards will be stellar. Just for tonight at least and figure it out tomorrow.”

“I suppose,” Allegra hesitated, but Tonks was already beaming.

“Wicked! We can stay up gossiping about boys and catch up on everything we couldn’t say in letters. It’ll be a proper sleepover,” she said, spilling a bit of her tea in excitement.

“Lovely,” Allegra deadpanned and then laughed when Tonks smacked her shoulder. “You know Bill’s offer is starting to sound a lot more appealing.”

“Oi! If it's a pretty face you want to look, you know I can look like him,” Tonks teased.

“Please don’t,” Bill muttered, looking distinctly uncomfortable as her hair turned the famous Weasley red.

“No, Tonks. I just don’t want a repeat of the last time we had a sleepover and I woke up to Snape’s face two inches from mine,” Allegra remarked, wrinkling her nose at the memory while the rest of the room roared with laughter.

Allegra’s breath caught in her throat as she realized how handsome Sirius looked when his face lit up in joy. She didn’t imagine that happened often after the twelve years he spent in that hellhole. It was a tragedy to have deprived the world of such beauty.

“That’s priceless,” Remus chuckled.

“More like nightmarish,” Sirius corrected, but his eyes were dancing with amusement.

“The real nightmare was when she retaliated by turning my reflection into Snape for a week. Every mirror and spoon I looked into would should me that greasy git’s face instead of my own,” Tonks groaned.

“That’s brilliant,” he grinned, making Allegra’s heart flutter.

“When you’re best friends with a bunch of pranksters, you’ve really got to learn to hold your own,” Allegra said, trying to ignore the uncomfortable sensation in her chest.

“Wise words, my lady,” Sirius said solemnly, the corners of his mouth fighting a smile.

* * *

Sirius closed the door behind him and turned to find Remus perched on the edge of his bed with a knowing smirk.

“You can always stay here. There’s plenty of room,” Remus mocked.

“Piss off,” he retorted and leaned back against the door with his arms crossed over his chest. “I came here to ask you something, but if you’re going to be a twat I might as well leave.”

“You only met her tonight and you already asked her to move in.”

“She’s an order member that needs a place to stay and there’s a couple of empty rooms.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t offer her your own bed,” Remus remarked lightly, but there was a steely glint in his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sirius rolled his eyes.

“It means - what the hell are you doing, Sirius? You know this isn’t right.”

“What isn’t right? Offering to help out a friend?”

“Don’t play dumb, Padfoot. I know you better than anyone here.”

“No, you don’t. You know who I was before Azkaban, not what’s left of me,” he snapped, his jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists.

“Yeah, well your behaviour tonight was eerily reminiscent of the Sirius from before. Kissing her hand and staring at her the entire night?”

“What’s your problem? Shouldn’t you be glad I’m behaving more like normal Sirius and less like a bitter shell?” Sirius questioned, throwing back the same words Remus had used a few weeks ago.

Remus rolled his eyes, not rising to the bait as he said, “Either versions of Sirius shouldn’t be flirting with a girl nearly half his age.”

“How old is she?” Sirius asked, not even denying that he was flirting. “Harry is nearly half my age and she’s much older than him.”

“She was in Tonks’ year. You figure it out.”

“She must be something like twenty-three then. That’s not bad.”

“It’s not great either,” Remus pointed out.

“Look, it was some harmless flirting. It’s not as if I proposed to her.”

“That’s even worse. You’ll lead the girl on, only to break her heart and mess up things with the order. We don’t know how long this war will last, Padfoot.”

“Exactly, Moony. We don’t know how long this war will last. We don’t even know if we’ll make it out alive. Do you really want to die alone, without ever having been loved?”

“Of course not,” Remus admitted reluctantly. “But I’ve come to terms that’s how it’ll be. How it should be.”

Sirius softened his defensive posture at the defeated look on his best friend’s face. He hadn’t been the only one who’d changed in the last fourteen years. While Sirius had been rotting away in prison, Remus had been shunned by their society and forced to mourn the deaths of their friends alone. The sweet, mischievous boy Sirius had first met on the Hogwarts express had eroded away, leaving behind a broken man who’d been defeated by life, time and time again.

“You’re not a monster,” Sirius said quietly as he sat down beside him. “You’re a kind, intelligent man who just gets a bit moody once a month. Bloody hell, Moony, if you don’t deserve to be loved, then there isn’t any hope for me. I’m a mass murderer with a hundred thousand gallon bounty on my head. Even if I can convince a witch that I’m innocent, there’s still the fact that Azkaban fucked me up for life.”

Remus choked out a dark laugh. “I’m poor and old, Padfoot. I can’t even get a job because of who I am. What woman would put up with this?”

“You’re not that old and I have more than enough money for the both of us,” Sirius snorted. “Is this nonsense why you keep turning down my cousin’s advances?”

“Padfoot -”

“No, Moony. I’ve seen the way she looks at you, despite all the reasons you’ve convinced yourself you’re undesirable,” he insisted. “Or do you not feel the same way?”

“It doesn’t matter how I feel. She’s young and impressionable. She has her whole life ahead of her. Being involved with me would just ruin her life. She’d be passed over for promotions at work and she wouldn’t be able to walk through Diagon Alley without getting looks.”

“She isn’t -”

“No, Sirius. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“But -”

“Drop it.”

Hearing the growl in Remus’ voice, Sirius nodded reluctantly.

There was a moment of silence as they allowed their thoughts to settle. Light snores could be heard coming from different parts of the house as the rest of the occupants slumbered on, unaware of the internal struggles that kept the two men from sleep.

“What did you want to talk about?” Remus finally asked in his usual soft voice.

Running his hand through his hair, Sirius let out a heavy sigh before asking, “Who the hell is Allegra Griffith?”

* * *

“Curse-breaker since she was eleven? Give me a break," Hermione said with a yawn.

Ginny agreed, “It’s always the pretty ones you have to watch out for.”

“She’s too perfect. Nobody is that perfect,” Hermione said sleepily.

“A bit of a show-off, if you asked me,” Ginny mumbled.

“Well I think she’s quite nice.”

“Harry!” Ginny and Hermione whispered furiously, their voices reaching an unholy pitch and making him wince.

“What’re you even doing here?” Ginny asked squinting to fine the silhouette of the bespeckled boy in the dark.

“Ron is snoring louder than the Hogwarts Express,” he grumbled as he spread his blanket out on the floor.

“Molly will kill you if she finds you here.”

“I’ll be gone by then. She’ll never know,” he said confidently. Years of living with the Dursleys had ingrained in him the habit of waking up at dawn.

“Oh, Harry. You can’t sleep on the floor. You’ll hurt your back,” Ginny muttered.

“S’okay,” he yawned. He could hardly tell them it was no worse than sleeping on the cupboard floor.

There was a moment of silence and then rustling.

“No, it’s not. Take my bed, I’ll bunk with Ginny.”

He tried to protest - which was quite difficult since they were all trying to whisper - but Hermione wouldn’t hear of it.

“I’m already under her covers, Harry, and if you make me move again I’ll - I’ll bite you,” she mumbled while trying and failing to fight a series of yawns. “After I sleep. I’ll bite you…after.”

Harry shook his head at the soft snores that followed and gathered up his blanket to stumble into the warm bed that was calling his name.

* * *

“Do you remember the legend about the Cursed Vaults?”

“You mean that rumour about there being hidden rooms of treasure somewhere in Hogwarts, guarded by fatal curses and all?” Sirius checked, frowning as he recalled the story that had been passed through generations of students. I always thought it was a pile of dung. If there was cursed treasure anywhere in Hogwarts, it would’ve been found at some point in the centuries since the school was founded.”

Remus smiled that infuriatingly knowing smile of his. “Well it was, found I mean.”

If Sirius hadn’t been sitting down, his knees would’ve buckled from the shock.

“Who? I mean how? Aren’t they cursed - oh. Curse-breaking since she was eleven,” he choked out, his eyes widening as realization dawned on him. “But that means…Allegra found the cursed vaults.”

“Indeed. She’s somewhat of a prodigy,” Remus added, “Like her brother.”

“Her brother?”

“Jacob Griffith. He was a couple years younger than us. Slytherin.”

“I think I remember seeing him around the Great Hall. Always had his head in a book,” Sirius said, seeing distant hazy memories of a dark-haired boy who kept to himself. In the later years, he had gained a reputation for his proficiency in dueling, transfiguration, and charms. “Didn’t we transfigure all the stuff in his book bag into snakes once?”

“That’s the one,” Remus snorted. “He returned the favour by turning us into snakes.”

Sirius shuddered at the memory. “That was the worst hour of my life.”

“He was searching for the vaults when he was at school and supposedly, he found them. He got expelled in his last year and disappeared, leaving Dumbledore and the rest of the staff to deal with the curses that starting wreaking havoc in the school.”

Sirius let out a low whistle. “Expelled? Bloody hell. But Dumbledore didn’t expel his sister and you said she found the vaults too.”

“She didn’t get her friend killed, “ Remus said quietly, looking down at his lap. “Duncan Ashe, a Ravenclaw that used to hang around Jacob. Rumour has it Jacob forced him to help him find the vaults, but then there was an accident.”

“And yet Dumbledore wants him to join the order?” Sirius asked, thinking back to tonight’s meeting. “Wait, didn’t Diggory say something about her brother working for Voldemort?”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Remus nodded. “Everyone thought he had joined Voldemort’s ranks when Jacob disappeared.”

“Did he?”

“No…if you believe Allegra and Dumbledore. No one really knows the whole story. Tonks and Bill know, but I never asked them about it.”

“You believe them.” It was a statement rather than a question.

“I do. It doesn’t make any sense to me that Jacob would return to Hogwarts repeatedly to save Allegra from wizards who’re trying to to kill her, not if he was actually working for the other side. He wouldn’t be on the run from Death Eaters either.”

“Kill her?” Sirius wondered in a horrified whisper.

“Yeah, she’s a bit like Harry in the sense that she has people lined up trying to kill her. There was an organization of nasty dark wizards, R, that had been trying to kill her and get to the vaults before anyone else.”

Remus may have only known pieces of the story, but what he told Sirius explained much of what had happened tonight. He’d seen the distrust directed at her, the ire at her very presence. She exuded power like a star leaking from its core and he didn’t doubt that others could sense it too. Their own magic would’ve crackled when they felt wisps of hers branching out to appraise the room. Her magical aura was a product of the tribulations she’d faced and a testimony to having overcome them.

Sirius thought he recognized the defensiveness on her face when her brother was mentioned, but it wasn’t until now that he _understood._ He knew better than anyone the burden one’s name carried, the expectation to be just as vile and rotten as your kin. He just couldn’t imagine how much worse it was when you loved the blood that you shared.

* * *

“Tonks, why on Earth is your kitchen so bare?” Allegra bemoaned as she opened cupboard door after wooden door, desperate in her search for sustenance.

“Babe, do you really want me cooking? Around a stove?” Tonks pointed out and laughed at the horrified screech the other witch let out. “There’s a muggle cafe I usually pop into for breakfast. It’s much better than the poor excuse of food they sell at the ministry.”

“Lead the way, my stead!” she said, cloak already in hand.

Tonks blew a raspberry at her friend, but grabbed her own belongings and held out her elbow. Allegra grasped ahold of it and closed her eyes as she waited for the uncomfortable sensation that was side-along apparition. They appeared in an empty alley way that was littered with broken glass and cigarette butts.

“Shouldn’t we be casting notice-me-not charms on us when we go out in public? Just to be safe?” Allegra wondered, surveying their surroundings as they walked. 

“We should, but they’re a bitch to take down when we go into the cafe. One time I completely forgot and thought the waitress was just ignoring me for being a redhead that day.”

“What’s it like being an Auror?” Allegra asked after they’d taken a seat in a secluded corner of the cafe and placed their orders. She had asked the same question before, but had never given the response much weight. It hadn’t mattered, until it did.

“It’s a lot more paperwork than you’d think,” Tonks said, her blonde bob bouncing with her chuckles. “But I enjoy it. Some days I actually feel like I’m making a difference in society, doing my part.”

“Some days?”

“Yeah, some days. When they aren’t tasking us with pointless shit like hunting down my cousin,” Tonks scowled. “Poor Kingsley, he’s the one in charge of Sirius’ case.”

“Poor Kingsley,” Allegra agreed.

“Here you go, dears,” their waitress said, smiling at the ravenous look on both women’s faces as she placed their food before them.

“Anyways, I don’t want to make you jump ship before you even board,” Tonks said once they’d eaten half their meal in reverent silence. “Are you excited?”

Allegra wrinkled her nose in distaste and admitted, “Not really. I never wanted to be an Auror. Chasing down criminals is not my idea of exciting. It’s all rather mundane and much too bureaucratic.”

“You’ve never done well with following rules and toeing the line,” Tonks agreed.

Allegra nodded and took a big gulp of her coffee. She was much more of a tea person, but Tonks hadn’t been joking when she said they’d be staying up to gossip. The late hour had burned in her tired eyes but it felt so good to spend time with her best friend. Travelling around the world in search of treasure was every bit as thrilling as it sounded, but she had missed being around the people she loved.

The ministry was bustling even at this early hour, which worked out in Allegra’s favour as it meant she could blend in the crowd. There were still a couple people who recognized her and stared rudely, but she kept her chin high. Once they reached the Auror department, they parted ways as Tonks headed to her cubicle and Allegra made her way to the Head Auror’s office.

Rufus Scrimgeour was an ambitious man who ran the department with a firm hand. Allegra likened his appearance to an old lion with streaks of grey in his tawny hair. His yellowish eyes peered keenly at her as he called for her to enter and gracefully rose to his full height to greet her.

“Ms. Griffith, we finally meet under better circumstances,” he said in his deep baritone voice as he shook her hand.

She tried not to bristle at the fact that he couldn’t hold back his insinuations despite how badly he wanted her working in his department. If she wasn’t certain that Moody would murder her for it, she would’ve walked right out of this office.

She settled for, “Good morning, Mr. Scrimgeour.”

“I must say I was quite surprised to hear you were moving back to Britain. Even more so that you were interested in working for the ministry.”

If she had a galleon for every person who was suspicious of her….

“I was considering it for some time now. I thought it was time I come home for good,” she said with a shrug. “Curse-breaking has its own charms, but it leaves much to be desired for stability.”

“Of course,” he nodded, watching her pensively. “What does your brother think?”

“I wouldn’t know, sir. I haven’t heard from him in a while,” she answered and it wasn’t exactly a lie. She never had a chance to tell Jacob about her sudden career change and she didn’t know what he would make of it. Although, her brother knew her well enough to know she never wanted to be an Auror - or at least, she hoped he did.

It was unnerving the way Scrimgeour stared at her, just waiting for her to slip up and give him the chance to pounce. Unfortunately for him, she’d been playing this game for a very long time.

“I believe Madam Bones has already explained to you how things will proceed, but I’d like to go over it once again just to be sure. Over the course of this morning you will complete a series of aptitude tests to ensure you are suited to the position and possess the required skills and knowledge. This is the same examination Aurors undergo once they have completed their training, but we do not expect you to perform at their expected level. Normally our Aurors go through three years of training before becoming qualified, but much of your experiences before you even became of age were more than what most of our Aurors can handle,” Scrimgeour said, his face betraying none of the distrust he held for her.

Allegra’s eyebrows rose at the compliment, wondering if it had hurt him to get the words out. There was no love lost between the two, but Scrimgeour was a Slytherin who recognized potential and knew how to acquire it.

“Your results will be adjusted accordingly. The written portion on magical jurisprudence will be waived, while the practical examinations for ‘magical detection and identification’ and dueling will be held to a higher standard. Should you be accepted, the topics which you have underperformed in will be part of your modified training regime,” he continued and flicked through a folder in front of him before pulling out a piece of parchment. “You understand that if you do not pass this examination, you will instead be hired as a curse-breaker liaison for the DMLE?”

She nodded quickly.

“If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you over to training room six. Gawain Robards is waiting for you there and he will be your examiner,” he said as he stood up and walked over to the door to hold it open for her.

She gave him a nod of thanks as she slipped by him and then fell into step with him as he brusquely led them to a different elevator from the one she used earlier. The training rooms were located on an entirely different floor and only accessible from a discreet elevator in the Auror department.

When they entered through a wide black door labeled with a faded number six, Allegra blinked rapidly to adjust to the dim lighting. The room was pitch black with the exception of a dim light hanging twenty feet from the door and the bright colours of various spells flying around the space. Underneath the light stood two wizards who were dueling at a fierce speed, throwing non-verbal spells at each other in rapid succession.

Scrimgeour made no move to interrupt them, giving her time to silently observe the way the two men fought. It was clear that the shorter dark-haired man was the more skilled duelist, but the other wizard was holding up his own well enough. It was another ten minutes before the taller man was struck in the shoulder with a jinx that caused him to go toppling over. A loud chime rang through the room as he hit the floor and several sconces lining the wall flared to life.

“Time!” the victor called out and held out his hand to help his opponent back to his feet. “Excellent work, Marcus. Your timing and aim has certainly improved, but your footwork is a bit clumsy. Come see me after lunch.”

She watched as Marcus nodded and hurried out of the room, casting her a curious glance as he left. She turned away from the door and found herself under the scrutiny of the who she presumed to be Robards.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” he said, a friendly smile on his face as he held out his hand. “I’m Gawain Robards.”

“Allegra Griffiths, sir.”

“Of course you are. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got,” he said and gestured to the room behind him. “This is the light and dark room. We’ll be starting with a test of your stamina and duelling against targets that will appear out of the darkness with little to no warning.”

“I suppose that was as much of a warning as I’ll be getting,” Allegra remarked.

Robards winked and chuckled as he said, “You’re a sharp one. You can place your belongings to the side there.”

He indicated for her to stand underneath the light and when she did, the entire room was doused in darkness. Squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath, she turned her focus inwards. She doubted the targets would make any noise to alert her of their arrival, meaning she had to rely on her other senses. Allegra hadn’t survived the countless people out for her life by having a stellar reaction time alone, which is what she assumed this test was designed for. She’d learned long ago that the best sense to trust was her magic and that’s what she did here. She allowed her shields to drop and let her magic twist away from her to get a feel of the magic in the room. She could feel the pulsating of Robards and Scrimgeour’s magical cores behind her. She felt the vibration of the spells directed her way seconds before the vivid beams of light that shot out of targets. Targets that seemed to materialize out of the shadows and disappear just as quickly.

_Now this is more like it_ , she thought with a grin as she dodged a bruising hex.

* * *

Before the sun had even risen, Harry tip-toed out of Hermione and Ginny’s room and closed the door as quietly as he could. He turned around and jumped, his hand instinctively flying to his mouth to cover the sound of his surprise.

“Sirius! What the hell?” he whisper-yelled.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, pup?” Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Harry blushed and quickly moved away from the door he’d just come out of. “Ron snores and I needed the sleep.”

“Was that him? It sounds like a dragon with a bad head cold,” Sirius chuckled.

Harry snorted and then gave him a suspicious look. “What’re you doing up so early?”

“I like to exercise and duel before breakfast. Come with me, pup. I want to show you something.”

“I didn’t think wizards cared much for exercise,” Harry said and fell into step with his godfather.

“Most don’t and I didn’t either until your dad became Quidditch captain. He made us run laps around the pitch, which was the worst, by the way. But then I realized casting spells came easier to me and my magical stamina was improving. Your mum was actually the one to teach me a bunch of muggle exercises for building muscle strength,” Sirius explained as they headed upstairs. “Another thing is that dueling requires the use of all your muscles and they tire out easily. A weak and tired body can only survive on skill so long before a mistake is made and a life is lost.” 

Harry nodded as he mulled it over, brushing past the familiar ache in his chest he always got when he heard stories about his parents. He was impressed because _it made sense_ , it really did. Whenever they learned a new spell in class they would practice is repeatedly until they’d perfected it. Was that not just like training a muscle to make it stronger?

“I want to strengthen my magical stamina too,” he said decidedly and knew he’d made the right choice when Sirius beamed. “Er, thanks, Sirius. I mean it.”

“For what, pup? As your godfather, I should’ve been teaching you all of this from the very start.” The smile slipped from Sirius’ face as fast as it came. “Instead I’m trapped inside my childhood hellhole and completely useless to you or anyone.”

“Sirius, don’t say that. You’re - you’re giving the order a headquarters and it’s not your fault you’re stuck in here,” Harry said but it did nothing to dispel the dark shadow that had come over his face.

“It is my fault, Harry. If I hadn’t been so reckless and blinded by my anger that night -”

“What’s done is done. No use wallowing over what could’ve been.” Well, that worked about as well as Arthur’s Ford Angelina. Deciding to try a different tactic, Harry sniffed, “Also, the fact that you’re taking responsibility away from that cowardly rat is upsetting my delicate sensibilities.”

Sirius blinked. His lips began to curl up into a smile and he wrapped an arm (a very firm arm, Harry noted solemnly) around his godson.

“ _Seriously_ though,” Harry said with a snicker, “You’re the closest thing I’ve gotten to a good parent and you don’t coddle me. I was thanking you for being honest with me, something Dumbledore and the other adults seem to be allergic to.”

Sirius barked out a laugh and shook his head fondly. “I’ll always be honest with you, pup.”

Harry looked around curiously as they reached the landing of the fourth floor. He hadn’t been up here before and was surprised to see it looked a bit cleaner than the lower floors.

Sirius vaguely gestured to the door directly across from the stairs and explained as they walked past it, “That’s the entrance to the second floor of the Black library. It has the more…darker…books than the downstairs counterpart. You probably want to avoid mentioning that in front of the others or they think I’m corrupting you.”

Harry frowned at the derisive tone in his voice and asked, “What do you mean?”

Sirius shook his head and paused before an innocuous narrow door.

“Sirius -”

“Don’t worry about it, pup,” Sirius smiled tightly - a little too tightly - and ushered Harry into the room.

“N-no way! What is this?”

“This, my dear Prongslet, is the dueling room. Probably my favourite room in this depressing house. I used to spend hours in here before I ran away. Regulus loved the library more, but we were closest when practicing our dueling together.”

Harry gaped at the large room, easily more than half the size of the Great Hall. The glistening mahogany hardwood was marred with scorch marks and the walls had diagrams of chain spell sequences and footwork drawn on.

“Wicked!” he grinned. “You’d never able to tell from the outside that there’s a room this big.”

“Right? My folks loved that they were sticking it to the ministry by taking a muggle residence and covering every inch of it with magic.”

“Your family has, uh, an odd sense of accomplishment,” Harry said, much to Sirius’ amusement.

“You’d be surprised. I had a great-great-aunt who was an advocate for muggle baiting and she loved to reminisce about the old glory days.”

Harry snorted and shook his head in disgust. His eyes drifted over the human-shaped targets that lined the far wall. Sunlight streamed through the floor-length windows of the adjacent wall (which he suspected were enchanted since there wasn’t supposed to even be a fourth floor in the house) and onto several workout mats. There were even a couple machines he remembered seeing in a muggle gym near his old elementary school.

Noticing where his attention was, Sirius explained, “Ted, that’s Tonks’ old man, told me about the exercise buildings muggles have and that they use these contraptions to get fit. I mean, I love doing a couple hundred pushups as much as the next guy -” Harry snickered “- but these are brilliant.”

“So this is where you are every morning?”

“Sure am, pup. It’s also great for blowing off steam,” he added, giving Harry a pointed look.

“You heard about that, huh?” he muttered, scowling at the mention of his first night a Grimmauld Place.

“Yeah, but Moony was the lucky one who got to hear that infamous Lily Evans temper first hand,” Sirius grinned. “Your mum would’ve been proud. You have no idea how many times she turned that temper onto us.”

Unable to deal with the emotions welling up in his chest, Harry hugged his tightly. His eyes stung and he knew it was probably just the stress of the past few weeks, but damn if he wasn’t grateful to have Sirius in his life.

“Pup?” Sirius was confused but that didn’t stop him from wrapping his arms around his godson and rubbing his back soothingly.

“I-I’m sorry, Sirius. It’s just, I’m so sick of always hearing the same thing. I look like my dad, but I have my mum’s eyes. That’s all I know of them. That’s all I’ll ever know of them…and-and I tell myself it’s enough. Most days I even believe it. But it’s not,” he whispered, his voice cracking as tried not to cry. “They were so much more than that, but I’ll never know. I’ll never know what my mum liked for breakfast or what my dad’s favourite sweet was. I’ll never know what made them cry, what made them laugh. If they were morning people or if they…if they…. I’ll just never know.”

They’d sunken to the floor under the weight of their grief, gripping each other fiercely. Harry didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but it didn’t matter. What did matter, though, was that Sirius stayed. For the first time in Harry’s life, someone stayed. He didn’t try to whisper false assurances in his ear. Sirius understood better than anyone that _it wasn’t okay_.

Then, when the tears had been dried and their tangled limbs ached, Sirius gave him a heartbreaking smile and said, “Lily ate eggs with waffles every morning like clockwork, but she loved muggle cereal more than anything. James, now he could rival you with his love for treacle tart.”

Warmth bloomed in Harry’s chest and somehow, in that moment, it felt like it would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't play the game - everything mentioned about Jacob finding the vaults and being expelled is true. The actual year he was born is anywhere from 1955-1964 so it is very well likely that he attended Hogwarts during the time of the Marauders.
> 
> I know this isn't supposed to be a Harry-centric story, but it saddens me that Harry missed out on a beautiful relationship with his godfather. The Sirius of my story is a touch more stable and healthy compared to canon and he'd rather train than sulk all the time. 
> 
> I'm really curious to know how the attraction between Sirius and Allegra comes off. Does it seem believable? Too abrupt? I can't wait to hear what you all think in the comments and please leave me a kudos if you liked the chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Sirius Black fic (I've only ever written Dramione) so please let me know what you think. The conversations in this chapter came off a bit Allegra-centric, but I'm just building the foundations for who Allegra is. If you enjoyed reading this, give it a kudos and let your friends know. I'd also love to know what your thoughts on this chapter are and what you think of Allegra. How do you think having her in Sirius' life will change the events of OotP (because things will definitely change)?  
> Thank you for taking the time to read this.
> 
> (Everyone who's waiting for an update on Paralyzed and That Which Destroys Me - I have not abandoned those fics and will be updating soon now that I'm done with university)


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